Enjoy an authentic dining experience at a Taste of India! Indian Cuisine holds a proud place in the list of distinguished cuisines of the world. Cooked to order dishes with NO MSG, NO preservatives or additives. Drop in for lunch or dinner... reservations are recommended for dinner. Our takeout menu is always an option if you are on the go. Getting ready for a group function? Consider our large private dining area in our upper level for your next personal celebration or corporate event. Whether you stay to dine or take a meal with you you'll experience a beautiful atmosphere that will keep you coming back for more. Please enjoy our hospitality. We look forward to serving you.more...See more text

Wonderful Anniversary Dinner!!!

My wife had been asking to try this restaurant for quite sometime. After reading the reviews here i expected great food and so so service.
We had the opportunity in celebrating our anniversary last Saturday to head out for a romantic meal and our 1st visit.
Well let me tell you that anything negative mentioned in the past is no longer valid.
The restaurant was packed yet quiet and private enough. Shafiq and his family (staff) were extremely attentive, stopped to check in and the food arrived in what seemed like no time at all.
Shafiq himself is quite the character, very friendly and welcoming which really sealed the deal of a great evening out for my wife and me.
Now onto the food. Well where to begin. Wow is a good start...extremely fresh, VERY yummy and the spice was a real surpirse. I was not a huge fan of Indian food (or at least I thought) but Shafiq's has converted me. We enjoyed Samosa, Naan, Curry Chicken, Mango Chutney, Butter Chicken, and my new favourite dish, Chicken Binyani (sp?)..oh my god.! Delicious!
As a matter of fact they open in 7 minutes so i am going to go order Take Out!!
If you enjoy fresh and extremely tasty food you will not go wrong with this place.

Great food, lousy service

My wife and I went for dinner to Shafiq's last night for the fourth time since last summer. I have to say this will be our last time.
On every occasion, the service is terrible. Either they get the orders wrong, or we have to wait for something, or they just ignore us.
It's not a terribly big restaurant - seating maybe 30 people at most - so they could provide better service if they wanted to.
Last night, they missed some items from a pre-set list of items on their menu, and we had to remind the owner what we were missing. (Which is a surprise, since he created the menu, right?)
Then when the final item came, we ordered a drink refill - wine for my wife and beer for me. Fifteen minutes later, with the restaurant nearly empty, we were nearing the end of the meal without our drinks, and no water refill. Finally, the owner came with my wife's wine, but no beer for me. I told him we didn't want the wine, because we were finished our meal. He seemed shocked!
I asked him to pack up the remainder, which he hastily did. Before the bill came, he asked if we wanted coffee or tea, but I repeated that we were finished. He seemed truly surprised that we didn't want to hang around!
We will continue to order take-out, because it's the best Indian food in town, but we will never eat there again, nor will we recommend it to friends.

Long Wait - No Satisfaction

My family took me to Shafiq's for Mothers Day. We had a reservation, but there was no table for us when we arrived. I think the owner was genuinely surprised that he was so busy on a Sunday; he was dressed for an afternoon at the golf course. We waited over an hour for our food, and obviously our order was lost, but all the owner could say was "there's nothing I can do". No apologies, no offers of recompense. We left without eating, and will not be returning.

truely amazing

we came as a group of 6, the restaurant was packed! but we decided to stay we did indeed wait a while for our meals however the service was great, beautiful atmosphere the waiters were really nice and the food came out nice and hit and was just amazing! definitely coming back

Awful service

Came here on a saturday night, and for some reason the only wait staff was the owner and his son, despite the restaurant being full. Had a reservation, but it took them ten minutes to seat us. Another 15 to receive our drinks. 45 to receive our appetizers and they forgot to give us napkins and bring us water, and we had to ask for them. It took 1 hour and 20 minutes to finally receive our food. By the time the food came, I was so hungry and uncomfortable I honestly don't even remember if it was good. I felt like it was mediocre at best. I was never even asked if I wanted dessert, and when I told the owner how long it took us to get our food he just shrugged.
There is no excuse to be understaffed like that on a saturday night. From reading the other reviews, it seems this is really common. I think the owner is trying to squeeze as much money out of this place as possible. I won't be going back - it's too big a risk to have an unpleasant experience like that.

Taste of BLAND (yes its an oxymoron...)

Our visit started out good; I've had recommendations from friends. Then upon arrival the place was packed and lively. Our drinks were so-so, my lassi too fruity-sweet, and partner's chai was too sweet and lacking in those layers of spices you'd expect from an 'authentic-looking' Indian resto. Our food seemed like a good deal, the Bangladeshi dinner for two at 35$, but our three main dishes tasted bland. The fish curry (made with salmon???) was mildly flavoured, but the tarka dal and sag bhaji were both BLAND. The mango desert was sickly sweet syrupy and yuck. Our table cloth was still dirty from the previous diners...and our waitress, though kind and pleasant forgot a few items that came with the combo. We've been to many Indian restaurants and were sorely disappointed with our evening there, we will not return.

One of Peterborough's best

For between 15-20 per person, you end up being stuffed with amazing food, that's healthy for you.
I've had quite a few of the dishes here. The Madras is quite spicy, and wonderfully prepared. The butter chicken is rich and the coconut really comes through well. Their Sag Paneer, though surprisingly not on the menu (but can be requested) is very authentic.
Service does seem a little lacking during the busy times. But the owner is always around, and ensures you are satisfied with everything.
If you want great food, and good atmosphere, for under $20/person. This is your place.

We went after a while to have some Indian food at this place, and we ordered aloo peas for our vegetables and we regret going there. The potato was smelled horrible and it just ruined our appetite. The waitress was running around with no help at all. She was trying to babysit her son or the owner's son while working and the young boy was playing with fire as she tried to stop him. The food was awful and having a child walk barefoot in a fine dine,playing with fire is not what we felt comfortable with. I think they are using previous nights food and that doesn't make anyone feel good. Their butter chicken was awful, its sweet and thats not how butter chicken should taste like. Will not go again.

Awesome FOOD!!!

Shafiq's is an amazing place to eat. I get takout nearly once a week! The owner is virtually always there with a similing face and alway thrilled to see his customers. My theory on restaunts is that if it is busy it is must be good.. this place is very busy, especially on he weeks - and yes the food is wonderful. I have also brought many family and friends there to rave review.

this place was amazing we came with such a large group but they managed to maintain us with all satisfaction i don't know what these terrible reviews are about however we all loves it definately going again!

Never EVER again!
In the 1.5 hours we waited for our food, we could have driven to downtown Toronto, and had a quality Indian meal there instead. The service was awful. Our table was completely ignored for over an hour. No drink refills or explanation as to why it was taking so long for our food to arrive. The owner was more interested in packing the place full than serving the people that were already in there. Did I mention that this was a birthday meal for my Mom? Severely disappointing. We were just about to get up and leave when the meal finally arrived (with no apology). On the menu: burnt Onion Bhajhi, overly sweet Butter Chicken, dried out Nan bread, bland Mix Vegetable Curry, and the only redeeming dish: Mattar Paneer.
Bottom line: extremely poor service, and overly priced, extremely disappointing food. Make the trip to Toronto instead.

By looking at the reviews we were not sure if we...

By looking at the reviews we were not sure if we should try the restaurant. But at the end we decided to give it a try. I was actually disappointed at this place. I was hoping to get some good indian food after all the place was designed with alot of indian decor. It was kind of cramped in a way. The food was okay. It wasn't the best at all. More disappointment was the service. It wasn't busy so I was hoping to get faster service. The lady who was working seemed unhappy that we were there. Kind of a turn off. The other thing was the washroom was really dirty. Place seemed abit expensive for the type of decor it had. Its more like tacky than classy.

this was one of the best restaurants i have...

this was one of the best restaurants i have visited in a while. Good food, good service and a great atmosphere. The waitress was nice and friendly to us. We got our drinks right away. The owner of the restaurant came up to us and introduced himself to us since he noticed we were not familier with the cuisine and gave us complimentary papadums and onion bajis and recommended food for us. Will surely come back.

Indian food is one of the most authentic food...

Indian food is one of the most authentic food ever. But this food was disgusting. We visited this restaurant last week before we hit the concert, unfortunately we couldn't even stay for the concert we both had to rush home. My husband and I were both in the washroom whole night. When we were having our dinner it didn't taste right. It didn't taste good at all. The chicken wasn't properly cooked. The rice was cold and tasted old. In the menu it says freshly cooked which wasn't true at all. We could sue this restaurant but we are not that sort of people. SERVICE was HORRIBLE!!! You don't expect this sort of service from a fine dinning. They forgot our drinks, they forgot the menu, it took forever for them to take our order. The only reason we went to this restaurant is because my Collegue recommended it to us. She said they have excellent service, but I don't see any service worth mentioning. Very disappointed at food and service. Wouldn't recommend it all!!!!!

Horrible place..
The food was awful, the worst...

Horrible place..
The food was awful, the worst food ever, the waiter and waitress awful. the waitress was hardly wearing any clothes. if it is a fine dining waitress shouldnt be dressed like that. service was horribly slow. it is a disgrace to indian food. Indian food doesnt taste like that. I have had indian food all over the world never tasted such worst food. veryy disappointed

This is a very good restaurant, with a very...

This is a very good restaurant, with a very gracious host/owner/chef. There are a couple bad reviews, which should be filed under "can't please all the people all the time". We eat out weekly in Ottawa & Toronto, and this restaurant can hold it's own. Service can be a slow when busy, but it's not a race - you're supposed to be relaxing ! Food is first rate.

Huge Disappointment !!!!
After reading the...

Huge Disappointment !!!!
After reading the numerous other reviews for this restaurant it seemed to me that this would be a good choice for Indian food in Peterborough. I have had the pleasure of eating Indian food elsewhere such as in Toronto and was extremely disappointed in what I had experienced at Shafiq's Taste of India. I had ordered take out consisting of Butter Chicken, Palao Rice and Garlic Naan. The Butter Chicken which in the "manner" in which they make it was white, I had never seen that before, and had a strong taste of coconut, a taste that should not be in Butter chicken. The garlic naan had no taste of garlic, dry and cold. The rice was also very bland. Ended up throwing it out and a waste of my $20.